Prior to their UEFA Champions League match against Ajax, Barcelona's coach Luis Enrique clarified he did not want to fuel the controversy surrounding Lionel Messi's aborted substitution against Eibar. Apparently, Messi snubbed the coach, who only wanted him to rest after a busy International break with Argentina:
"I have a lot of faith in my rapport with the players. Having said that, everyone is free to read what they want into things, but I'm not going to change what I'm doing. We will keep making those decisions based on what we think, and we hope we will not be wrong when we make them," Luis Enrique said.
The former Celta Vigo coach did not want to add pressure to his players, stating there is a long way to go in the season to consider this a crucial week:
"From where I'm standing the team are in the best possible position heading into the upcoming games. I'd call it an interesting week, not a key one. We will see how important it was around March, when we will know if we are still candidates to win anything," Barcelona's coach added.
Regarding Saturday's game against Real Madrid, Luis Enrique ironically answered about his intentions of repeating tomorrow's starters:
"If I do, I will tell Ancelotti first, so he is not surprised by it. I will be truly honest with him, so he does the same and nobody gets hurt," the coach ended.
Watch Luis Enrique asking Messi to leave the pitch, while the Argentinian walks away from the bench:
